Sad day

It's a sad day for me. Today, I found out an old friend of mine passed away at the beginning of the month. His name was Mark West.

We met when I was 16 years old. He was 6 or 7 years older than me, and at that age, that seemed like a lot of extra years. But, as we got older, we became closer in "real age", and became really good friends. We spent a lot of time partying together, and hanging out with our group of friends. He had a reputation as being a "bad" boy, but he was really just a big ole teddy bear. He was always the one I could count on to get me home safe and sound, and to take care of me, no matter where we were.

He had a rough life, often succumbing to the lure of the bottle, so alcohol was almost always part of our get-togethers. When I was 16, I thought it was great that one of my friends was able to buy me beer legally. But later in life, the drinking became the wedge in our relationship. As I moved on, got a "real" job, serious relationships, and bought my first apartment, he continued with the parties, and lifestyle I no longer seemed to enjoy. Our relationship took a turn then, moving from him protecting me, to me protecting him. I spent many hours, days and weeks visiting him in rehab centers, bailing him out of jail, joining him at his AA meetings, and lending support when he wanted to "change his life around".

As time moved on, our lives just drifted apart, and we slowly lost touch with each other. We now had little in common, except for a love of the old times. In fact, the last time I saw him was like 10-15 years ago. I had half-heartily tried to get a hold of him over the years, but never really took it to the next level to find out where he was or what he was up to. I regret that.

Today, a mutual friend mentioned his passing to my ex-boyfriend... and my ex called me. I didn't want to believe it at first. There was still time to find him, I thought to myself. There was still time to tell him how much I appreciated our friendship, and that I miss him. But, a search on the internet proved me wrong, when I found an obituary for him. I know now that he is gone, and I can't ever tell him how much I cared.

Goodbye Mark. I will miss you.